The Bhopal tragedy 25 years later
BHOPAL GAS TRAGEDY 25 YEARS LATER
The Rajya Sabha on Wednesday mourned the victims of the Bhopal gas disaster of 1984, as members expressed their “heartfelt sympathies” for the “human tragedy of unparalleled magnitude”
A mere lip service this as the government is yet to settle the compensation of many of the victims of the tragedy, twenty five years on.
The tragedy occurred on the night of December 2-3, 1984 when the township near the Union Carbide factory was asleep. Tonnes of toxic Methyl Iso Cyanate (MIC) spewed out of the pesticide plant in Bhopal killing more than 3,500 people instantly.
Research conducted by the state-run Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) until 1994, says that between 8,000 and 10,000 people were killed within the first three days of the tragedy, and about 25,000 people later died from the effects of exposure.
The magnitude of the catastrophe can be gauged that even today the groundwater in the area is still toxic making the residents sick. The first to test the water samples was Union Carbide themselves, the results showed lethal amounts of toxins in the groundwater. The report was hushed up.
Greenpeace activists’ survey found that more than 350 tonnes of toxic waste about the site still pollute the soil and groundwater. An estimated 100,000 people reside in the area and about 30,000 of them have to draw the ground water, as the infrastructure set up by the government for clean drinking water is inadequate. This has led to cancer, congenital defects and a host of related illnesses.
Investigations have shown that the company had been dumping thousands of tonnes of waste around the plant for years before the accident, all in the knowledge of successive state governments.
A private charity had sent 15 samples from around the area to laboratories in Switzerland and England which showed concentrations of some toxins were actually rising "as the chemicals leach through the soil and into the aquifer", it said.
"This report will nail their lie," Satinath Sarangi of the Bhopal Group for Information and Action told newspersons.
"There are still high concentrations of carcinogens and birth defect-causing chemicals and heavy metals in the water," he said.
Dow Chemicals which purchased Union Carbide in 1999, insists all liabilities toward the plant were cleared in a 1989 out of court settlement worth 470 million dollars, the bulk of which was used to partially compensate victims and to relatives of dead victims. Failure to disburse the compensation has also led to a legal battle between victims and the state with the Supreme Court giving a deadline to pay the compensation. Reports indicate that approximately $390 million is still with the government fund as a result of earned interest.
BHOPAL GAS TRAGEDY 25 YEARS LATER The Rajya Sabha on Wednesday mourned the victims of the Bhopal gas disaster of 1984, as members expressed their “heartfelt sympathies” for the “human tragedy of unparalleled magnitude” A mere lip service this as the government is yet to settle the compensation...
BHOPAL GAS TRAGEDY 25 YEARS LATER
The Rajya Sabha on Wednesday mourned the victims of the Bhopal gas disaster of 1984, as members expressed their “heartfelt sympathies” for the “human tragedy of unparalleled magnitude”
A mere lip service this as the government is yet to settle the compensation of many of the victims of the tragedy, twenty five years on.
The tragedy occurred on the night of December 2-3, 1984 when the township near the Union Carbide factory was asleep. Tonnes of toxic Methyl Iso Cyanate (MIC) spewed out of the pesticide plant in Bhopal killing more than 3,500 people instantly.
Research conducted by the state-run Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) until 1994, says that between 8,000 and 10,000 people were killed within the first three days of the tragedy, and about 25,000 people later died from the effects of exposure.
The magnitude of the catastrophe can be gauged that even today the groundwater in the area is still toxic making the residents sick. The first to test the water samples was Union Carbide themselves, the results showed lethal amounts of toxins in the groundwater. The report was hushed up.
Greenpeace activists’ survey found that more than 350 tonnes of toxic waste about the site still pollute the soil and groundwater. An estimated 100,000 people reside in the area and about 30,000 of them have to draw the ground water, as the infrastructure set up by the government for clean drinking water is inadequate. This has led to cancer, congenital defects and a host of related illnesses.
Investigations have shown that the company had been dumping thousands of tonnes of waste around the plant for years before the accident, all in the knowledge of successive state governments.
A private charity had sent 15 samples from around the area to laboratories in Switzerland and England which showed concentrations of some toxins were actually rising "as the chemicals leach through the soil and into the aquifer", it said.
"This report will nail their lie," Satinath Sarangi of the Bhopal Group for Information and Action told newspersons.
"There are still high concentrations of carcinogens and birth defect-causing chemicals and heavy metals in the water," he said.
Dow Chemicals which purchased Union Carbide in 1999, insists all liabilities toward the plant were cleared in a 1989 out of court settlement worth 470 million dollars, the bulk of which was used to partially compensate victims and to relatives of dead victims. Failure to disburse the compensation has also led to a legal battle between victims and the state with the Supreme Court giving a deadline to pay the compensation. Reports indicate that approximately $390 million is still with the government fund as a result of earned interest.
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